Legends of old
by Talian
Summary: Warning: This is in addition to Shadow Fox's Christmas Alternative but can go as a stand alone if needed


**Legends of the past  
**A six part story of long ago

Part 1

This story started long ago , when the beats of dreams roamed the lands freely and the lands needed guardians to ensure their continued existence. It is said that two such groups controlled elements that kept the very planet thriving. It was rumored that these two groups were usually in opposition to each other resulting in more then one disturbance. Those were the times when even the inhabitants cowered under their rage as they battled with each other.

One of the quieter pair that battled was the Shadow Master and Earth Mistress. The Shadow Master was a trickster by nature , using shadows to play tricks on others and as soon as they would turn to see what had caught their eye he was gone , having moved to the safety of another shadow just to watch and laugh as the poor thing he had done it to investigated where he had been. Of course no one could catch him , at least he though no one could , he controlled the shadows and used them for his own pleasure. The Shadow Master had made allies with a large bat , it being a creature of the night and that being the best time to use the shadows they had fast become friends. It seemed Deathsythe the bat was also a great lover of tricks and so the pair enjoyed many nights.

The Earth Mistress was gentle by nature , it seemed very little could get under her skin and she enjoyed walking the lands. The sight of flowers growing was just as pleasant as watching the farmer , who worked so hard to use the lands to bear fruit and others things to support his and many other families. She had been seen many times sitting for hours just humming to herself as she watched the lands and how they were changing. This nature had drawn her a friend as well , one of the few unicorns that roamed freely over the lands had pledged itself to stand at her side as both guardian and friend and so started a wondrous friendship , the unicorn had listened to her sing and the Earth Mistress no longer was alone in her travels.

It had been one of those slow days for the Shadow Master , the heat had been brutal on the mortals in the area he now hung to , he had been trying all day to enjoy some sport but no one was willing to play along , those who had not sought out the protection of the shade were busy working away and even the children's usual level of energy had dropped. He had almost gave up when he heard the far off singing and went to investigate. What he saw was not what he had expected , there by the water stood a girl who was collecting up the water on a bowl and bringing it to a patch of flowers that stood nearby. He sat and listened to the tune she sang and was amazed at how she seemed to be unaffected as the others had been but it didn't take long for him to notice more then just how she was acting. Her dress was adorned with daggers much as a warrior would wear swords and she soon gained company as he friend had made it's way over and nudged her gently on the arm.

From there on if he did not find a place to listen to her he would try to trick her , it quickly became his favorite game which irritated her. The few times he had remain unnoticed had been his only saving grace but it seemed as long as she sang he was content to just listen.

She had a different view on it all together though. Not only did it seem that he would go out of his way to pester her he was venturing into grounds most unwelcome to him. More then once he had sought her out while she had been enjoying the solitude of her own special place only to catch a glimpse of him which soon resulted in a sharp spike of rock appearing where he had been. It had been a small solution but not one that worked for a great amount of time as he would always come back.

Still he came to listen , hoping to provoke her into singing sometimes but not once would he dare join in the song , remaining content to enjoy how ever much she would allow before she would again chase him away , never once asking why he returned but then never once had he asked himself that question either. His only wish was that one day she would sing for him as she sung for the unicorn that was constantly listening to her songs , just once for the song to be his was enough to stay close , even if she had chased him away less now then when he had first started the game she refused to be approached by any from his side.

This day as with all others he had sat in the shadows that were brought with the setting of the sun , waiting for her songs to start but with no song his mind set to wandering , he had heard very little throughout the day and now when she had never failed to set the sun to sleep with her voice singing it's lullaby nothing was heard but the sounds of a creature calling out in panic.

That was when his friend had found him , having grave news indeed. In the darkness he had little problem finding his way to where the trap had been laid and the sight that awaited him gave birth to a rage felt by few. The unicorn pranced about trying to wake the figure that lay behind it as those that had caused the damage now done closed in about the pair. Those that ventured within it's reach found that they would not leave unscathed as the horn flew more then once gouging at anything that drew close enough to be a danger.

The Master of Shadows needed little coaching after that , walking out from the shadows with scythe in hand and friend at his side , leaving the refuge of the shadows behind as the waning light from the fire danced all around the canyon that had been used as a trap. The first thrust of the weapon took the rest of the light with it as he scattered the burning wood outwards and extinguishing most of the fire in the process.

"Those who campaign against her shall become enemy of mine as well" he said aloud , drawing the shadows to him leaving nothing but a black form , one that even the meager darkness looked pitiful against his total abstinence of illumination.

Few remained to battle believing it to high a cost to continue this any further and hoping that their leave would go unnoticed in the darkness but those who had stayed regretted their actions as none had lived , their very voices of pain and suffering gave new vigor to those whom had smartly chosen to flee.

When the blood had been shed and none stood to challenge him further the Shadow Master had just as easily walked over to the guardian that stood over it's mistress and waited silently for permission to pass within it's circle , fearing not for himself as he let the weapon drop before the mythical beast and awaited it's decision.

Ocasta was an animal and knew there was little it could do , unlike those of it's mistresses kind the 'corn had no hands to care for it's friend and even though this one had many times interrupted their fun not once had he shown aggression towards her , and now to stand before him with no weapon awaiting his own permission before venturing any closer had earned him enough trust for the night , if only to care for her where no one else could. 

When her eyes had finally opened it was dark bringing a shiver to her skin as she tried to rise from where she had fallen but had been stopped gently , feeling a hand against her shoulder as it pushed her back down to the ground. Her eyes moved to find the source of the hand only to find the taunting face of her saviour. He had sat beside her while the others had stood watch , ensuring no one ventured near as she lay vulnerable.

Again the thought struck her as extraordinary , not once had she invited him into her life and yet here again he had come , but not just to listen and watch this time , only to fend off the unknowing fools that had hatched this cabal and seemed to expect nothing in return as he had sat there the entire night by her side.

~~~~~

There Trel had stopped reading , across the page was a picture of a blond girl with a unicorn by her side on a mountainside , the dress was a golden brown color in what she could only guess was a velvet type material. The picture wasn't the main thing that had caught her attention as the right hand , the thumb and first of the fingers were clearly visible but the final three curled around like it hid something.

She set the book down and looked at her own right hand wondering. Could what she hid be the second last finger as she herself had hidden for so long , not that she hid it on purpose but after so many months of curling it that way to protect her finger it had become a habit that she had never broken.

At the age of 6 both her and her brother had gone out to play , it was nothing uncommon to them so like usual they spirited away on their bikes headed for the local park. This park had a stream running through it and was lined with rocks on both sides , it was mainly used to help the run off from heavy storms but most kids just enjoyed throwing the rocks into the water.

She had been playing there for almost a half hour before it happened. It was like all strength had given out in the right arm and the rock drew her hand down with it as it fell back to the ground. At the time she had laughed at her own stupidity and drew her hand out from under the rock but the sight that greeted her then was never meant for a child's eyes.

It took little time for her to get to the closest house and knock on the back door hoping someone would answer as she herself was fast running out of rational ideas. An elderly lady came to the door but stopped in horror at the sight of the crying child. She had rushed Trel in the door and quickly covered the wound , quickly getting a phone number from the poor thing before calling her mother with the ill news. While her mother drove down the elderly lady had followed the blood back to where it had happened and located what she had been looking for.

As weird as it all seemed to her now Trel couldn't remember much pain , in the beginning it felt no bigger then a scratch , then after she had taken note of the amount of damage done it throbbed and as a child she knew she had panicked but what child wouldn't , she had managed to get help and some comfort. The television had distracted her mind from what was going on back then and even as her mother rushed her out the door to get her to a hospital there seemed little pain but not once did she look down at the towel that now surrounded her hand. 

They had all thought she was brave for she showed little concern for anything but a television , after all she was about to miss her favorite show but now she knew better then it being brave , it was shock she had been in. That was why they had covered her in so many blankets but little else of the whole event could be remembered , anything that didn't involve changing the bandaging was totally forgotten. But the sight she saw every time they had changed the bandage was enough to make her pass out and had kept her in fear when ever it even loosened.

How silly she felt now but had that been the reason she'd learned to take care of things like that , was it fear of what happened in the past that made her learn quickly how to fix her own damage and in turn feel responsible for others as well , that question she knew could never be answered and neither would the question about the picture. What she did know was all things healed with time and indeed so had her finger but few took notice of it , many turned green the first time and so she had worked hard to keep such a thing from notice , trimming the almost claw like nail that still grew from the mangled nail bed.

The picture looked eerie to her as she kept examining that hand , the finger looked weak and slightly curved towards the middle finger but if she took off the thick band that encircled the base of her own it looked meager compared to the others , and with the top having been flattened and the damage having occurred just above the top knuckle there was little the surgeon could have done to prevent the end from flaring out as it had.

"Awh look at me , arguing wether a myth is true or not ..." but then not to believe in the myth meant not believing in unicorns either and that was not an easy task for she had always believed they had been real once. And Ocasta ... that was an old Indian legend from her own time , that part she knew but could it be true that the unicorn and the legend from her own time were one and the same. It was said that Ocasta had taught the men to sing and heal , and if that were to be true then it would have taught the songs that were sang to it by the Earth Mistress ... the idea boggled her mind as she left. Why did it only teach the men how to sing and heal , and the part about having been a trickster worked all to well with the myth from this time had things happened and both these legends of old were one in the same parted into two different universes all together.

~~~~oO{@}Oo~~~~

Okay , this is the first but now for the challenge , there are 6 stories that are in need of creation  
the question is how many of you are up to making them.

This one I have made since I have intimate knowledge of Trel and the stories surrounding her  
and yes I did find a picture to match the scene , it is a painting of Luis Royo's making.

Trel is based off myself at that age and since I am not 16 keeping true to it is an easy thing for me.  
But knowing bare characteristics of the others I can not presume to do as well  
and so the challenge , if you don't feel up for it then e-mail me some things I can use to link your  
pilots suspisions to the story that they will find hidden deep within the book of lores. 


End file.
